Just some time ago, email marketing was the talk of the town.
And, as it happens with all things that are proven, free, and effective, every single company started incorporating email into their online marketing strategy. Marketing companies and experts started including it in their offerings. Moreover, since the nature of emails allows for sales funnels to be implemented quite easily, entire businesses specializing in email marketing services popped up as well.
Soon, however, the raving fans of email marketing faced a problem – the fact that everyone used emails as a marketing channel, made the space too cluttered.
So, they started looking for an alternative.
Well, it looks like they found it. If you haven’t figured it out by now – we are talking about messaging apps.
And so is everyone else.
But are messaging apps the holy grail of marketing?
You want a relevant conclusion? Then, let’s check out both sides of the story.
In some of our previous articles we covered both chatbots and email marketing, so you if you follow us regularly, you should have the basics down by now.
If you are not acquainted with the topics, check the “beginner basics” articles on email marketing by clicking here, or the Chatbot for Dummies “crash course” article by clicking here.
There you can find everything there is to know about them in detail. To understand this article better, we’ll briefly go over the basics below as well.
Now, it’s time to answer the question that everyone’s been asking.
In one of our previous articles, we said:
Although you might think that (…) social media is the next big thing, email has never lost (and will probably never lose) its leading status for making sales.
Statistical data shows that emails are, indeed, one of the most effective channels when it comes to customer acquisition and ROI. With an open rate of almost 22 percent, email marketing brings more than half of the companies’ conversions.
So, it’s safe to say that the statement above is still valid.
Every marketing channel consists of different elements that work together to ignite interest, grab attention, and push the prospect towards the moment of making a sale. And so, email campaigns have four main components:
Copy. Content is everything. Period. Even if you somehow manage to lure your customers into opening your emails using an inviting subject line, if you fail to provide them with value when they take a peek inside, you can consider them gone. How do you provide value? With an informative, well-written copy. Emails written using a friendly, conversational tone have a much higher chance of making users act since it doesn’t look like making a sale is their only purpose.
Creative is the design of the email and the structure of the copy. Using concise headings, short paragraphs and unambiguous language, will improve the readability and increase the open rate of the copy.
Relevance and Incentive. Okay, time to be honest. How relevant is your content to the receiver? What kind of value do you provide? Remember to take advantage of the power that the internet gifts to you, and play on the data you have about your customers to create more personalized offerings. Personalization is known to increase customer satisfaction and bring better results.
To sum it up, when used right, and by “right” we mean making sure that your copy is well written, clearly organized, delivers value and includes a great subject line, email marketing can yield amazing results.
But, why would you choose it over another channel? That is, what are the benefits?
If you ask us, this one is the most significant benefit of them all.
Why do we say that?
Because people hate change.
We know it. You know it. Everyone in this world knows it.
There is no stronger “lock-in” than the sense of familiarity. That is, no one is willing to change unless something makes change an unavoidable affair.
And, if you think about it, there’s no reason for emails to lose their prime. Sure, the space might be cluttered, but that’s just like saying that there are too many blogs nowadays. Which, by the way, is true. And yet, with every passing day, companies continue blogging and continue climbing the SERP ladder.
Your customers are used to using their emails daily. They open their inbox, and they expect to see something there. When you send a promotional email, it is normal. You are not intruding.
Messaging apps, on the other hand, not a while ago were just a place where people kept in touch with their acquaintances and chatted with their friends. And, now, suddenly, they have to get used to the fact that this private space can be imposed by a brand.
Email allows you to reach out to your prospects easily. Social media ads and PPC will raise the interest and attention of your users, but emails are the ones that will guide them through the customer journey and after they convert – nurture the leads.
Having a strong call to action immensely increases the odds of your users converting. So, the fact that emails allow you to incorporate a specific call to action that drives traffic back to your website and make sales is invaluable.
Many people argue that this is an invalid point since CTAs can be found in social media posts as well, but the CTAs present in emails are much more powerful, owing to the fact that people use emails primarily to acquire information about brands and various kinds of offerings.
Messaging apps have become a huge deal over the course of the past couple of years. Everyone realized that the messenger is going to be the next big thing once Facebook allowed for brands to send messages to their users. Facebook messenger is the most widely used messaging app around the world. Of course, there are some local preferred apps like WeChat in China or KakaoTalk in Korea, but all messaging apps share the same benefits when they are used for marketing.
The next milestone in the messaging apps’ development was the introduction of chatbots, which allowed companies to create conversation scripts and automate their interaction with the clients. Messenger bots are software programs that appear in the standard interface of messenger conversations and chat with users, the same way that humans would.
Some bots react to keywords, and others offer a choice of preset phrases. Then, depending on the preferences and answers of the users, they take them down different paths, sending them more and more personalized messages.
Generally speaking, there are two types of chatbots: informational bots and utility bots.
Informational bots provide users with content in a different format. So, if you are reading the news every day, you can subscribe to get alerts through messenger.
Utility bots, on the other hand, help users throughout the customer’s journey, solving their problems. For example, you could get a bot’s help while you are looking for an item to buy online, when you are making a reservation, or when you are ordering a cab. Utility bots can also access your calendar and manage your meetings or remind you of unpaid bills and subscriptions. The possibilities are truly limitless.
But, that does not answer the question: what are the exact benefits of messenger marketing?
Okay, let’s take a look.
Although email open rates are quite high, at times, emails don’t get opened.
Chatbot messages, on the other hand, rarely face this problem. They take the interaction to the place where users already spend their time: messaging apps.
Moreover, since the messages are instant, short, and don’t sound like they are trying to get to the point of making a sale at all times, users actually read the messages they receive. Sadly, that does not always mean that the users will go past the interest phase, and reach the bottom of the funnel (conversion).
According to statistics, more than 80% of business will have adopted chatbots in their experience very soon.
Being connected to Facebook, or other platforms, messaging apps collect a lot of data for users, like the location, the used devices, past personal info, and can even learn the customer and buying habits. This allows them to offer an enhanced experience. The personalization they provide is far greater than that of advertisements. Moreover, they share information far away from the clutter that shows up on the user’s social media feed.
Okay, we have to give it to bots – they are easy to use on every kind of device, get rid of the clutter and save time. Moreover, they create a sense of closeness with your customers and allow for two way communication. With chatbots, you are chatting with your prospects instead of talking TO them. Taking all of this into consideration, it seems that switching to messenger marketing is the way to go.
Um… Not so fast.
Just like in most instances in life, even when it comes to bots, expectations and the reality are two very different things.
Many times, the bots are built poorly. They don’t learn as you go, and rely on previously programmed scripts, giving you only limited options and thus limited information. Although they should know everything, in some instances they don’t understand the questions they have been asked and forget what they or the user said just a couple of minutes before. All of this takes away the illusion of humanity they should create, and make them inefficient.
So, yeah, when done right, they offer a lot of benefits.
But so do emails.
Also, although messaging apps and chatbots are in the spotlight right now, with 2.7 billion users worldwide, email is too big to fail.
Emails are better at getting long points across, which is why it remains the favorite for sharing lengthy messages. Furthermore, as we already mentioned, the habit factor plays a huge role as well. People are used to using emails for establishing direct communication with their brands of interest.
Another thing to consider is the demographics. The younger generation might be more comfortable with using messenger, but some senior email users do not own an account on a social media platform or a messaging app. So, excluding email from your strategy would mean missing out on the chance to market to a broader audience.
So, we have only one question for you.
Who told you that you have to choose?
Giving up what already works just to keep up with the developments in the business world is not a smart move. We are not saying that you should not make any changes, but that you should keep at your proven approach, while exploring new possibilities at the same time.
Instead of jumping the gun, and focusing all your efforts on making messanger your leading marketing strategy, set clear goals and rationally evaluate which channel would fit the needs of your current campaign.
The bottom line is that every channel has its target group. Including both into your integrated marketing strategy is your best bet if you want to reap all the possible benefits.
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